Who Founded Tel Aviv?

 The decision to list the names of Tel Aviv's founders on a plaque at its fortieth anniversary celebrations in 1949 sparked arguments that still are continuing today, as the Hebrew city celebrates is centenary.

 By llan Shchori

Ilan Shchori is a writer, researcher, lecturer, and tour guide who specializes in Tel Aviv of the 1920s and 1930s and operates a website on the city's history - www.mytelaviv.co.il

On May 27 this year, as part of the festivities to celebrate Tel Aviv's one hundredth anniversary, a statue of the city's first mayor, Meir Dizengoff, astride his horse was placed opposite his home at 16 Rothschild  Boulevard. This is where the historic lottery took place to distribute plots of land to the founders of Tel Aviv on April 11, 1909, and where David Ben-Gurion presided over the ceremony to declare Israel's independence on May 14. 1948.

 The dedication of the sculpture, which is the work of David Zondelevich, was accompanied by a festive ceremony and followed by "White Night in Tel Aviv," an all-night, city-wide culture festival that celebrates the day a few years ago that UNESCO declared Tel Aviv a world heritage site due to its wealth of Bauhaus architecture.

 Some 60 years earlier, in April 1949, the Tel Aviv municipality decided to take a similar step to mark the city's fortieth anniversary and erect a monument honoring the people whose activities from1906 onward led to the establishment of the first Zionist city. The monument was dedicated, after great controversy over the date the ceremony should take place, on March 23, 1951, which was Dizengoff's ninetieth birthday and the holiday of Shushan Purim. When Tel Aviv's leaders made this decision, they had no idea that they were opening Pandora's box and that the controversies over their decision would continue to this day.

 It began with the idea of the mayor at the time. Israel Rokach, who was the son of Shimon Rokach. one of the founders of Neveh Tzedek. After several meetings with municipal secretary-general Yehuda Nadivi, the idea crystallized to establish a memorial monument opposite the first home of the city council, on the corner of Nahalat Benjamin Street and Rothschild Boulevard, that would include a list of the 60 families that founded Tel Aviv. They initially intended to ask Tel Aviv sculptor Batia Lishansky to prepare the monument, or as was recorded in the memorandum that Nadivi sent to the mayor, to engage the services of sculptor Moshe Ziffer. In all of the letters, memos, and lists, they mention that only 60 families founded the city.

 Up to that time, in April 1949, it was generally accepted that 60 families had established Tel Aviv, with the assistance of a loan from Keren Kayemeth Lelsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), to pur-chase the lots. Indeed, some 15 years earlier, when the city was celebrating its 25th anniversary in 1936, the publication of Alter Druyanow's book on Tel Aviv, the official history of the city's founding, was met with more than a little criticism. The list of the city's 60 founding families that he had com-posed raised strong objections. Druyanow, who was close to Dizengoff, wrote an account of the development of Tel Aviv from Dizengoff's view-point that contained more than a few distortions and inaccuracies. Dizengoff died the same year that the book was published.

 A few months after it was decided to erect a monument, Rokach's office decided to ask a few sculptors to submit proposals for it. The mayor contacted Zeev Ben Zvi, Haim Gertrude, Dov Feigin, and Aaron Priver and even appointed a panel of judges - consisting of himself and four others - to evaluate the proposals and decide which of the four artists would create the monument. On November 17, 1949, the judges decided that Priver's proposal was the most appropriate and commissioned the work from him. When the news that he had been selected was released, the painters and sculptors association immediately complained that it had not been invited to help make the decision. The KKL-JNF management also sent off an angry letter in September 1949 to the mayor demanding a role in the preparation of the monument and that its name appear in a prominent place on the monument at the very least.

 Perhaps the most touching of the complaints received at that time came from artist Nachum Gutman. He was angry that he had been excluded from the preparation of the monument and had not even been invited to submit a proposal. He wrote to Rokach in September 1949, "As you know, I am among the first Tel Avivians, as a citizen and as a painter. I designed and painted the city's symbol, I painted the city's history in the book for Tel Aviv's jubilee, I adorned and painted the city's Purim festivities, and I do not think that I shamed the city when I became the first person from our city to receive the gold medal at the last international exhibition in Paris for my paintings. Why did the city omit me from the process of erecting a monument to the city's founders? I would appreciate it, sir, if you would take my words to heart and provide me with a response." Gutman sent a similar letter to Nadivi a few days later, but apparently did not receive a response.

 And then, the storm started. The terms for erecting the monument included posting a list of the 60 founding families. It seems that the city's leaders had decided to base the list on the charter that was signed in the Jaffa district court on October 12, 1909, between Zalman David Levontin. the bank official who gave the loan to the members of the group from the KKL-JNF's funds, and 60 members who already had built homes. The group actually included about 10 families whose homes were not yet completed or who had just started to build them. That was the list that was known up to that point and was the list that appeared in Druyanow's book.

 However, the people of Tel Aviv revolted upon discovering that was the list being used. Dozens of people claimed that they too had been among the city's founders and demanded that their names be included. One even turned to the courts for help and, with the assistance of attorney Elyakim Haetzni, claimed that his name must be included on the list. Haetzni recalls that he won the case and his client's name was indeed added to the list.

 Several of the other complainants turned to David Smilansky for help. He was one of the first movers and shakers in Ahuzat Bayit and was very close to Israel Rokach. Smilanksy and Rokach had several meetings on this issue. In May 1950, after more than a few arguments, and following extensive pressure from dozens of families, the two decided to add six more names to the list of the city's founders.

 However, the storm did not die down and letters of protest continued to flow into Rokach's office. The municipal archives contain a letter from Yaacov Pazner, who claims that the list of founders is not correct because the city based it on unfounded information. He wrote, "You determined that the founders are those who signed the official paper, even though they included some who reneged on this decision immediately and left the group and were replaced by others. Logic demands that the latter be included on the monument to the founders of Tel Aviv and not those who left, who did not participate in any activity to develop the neighborhood and later in the city of Tel Aviv."

 Binyamin Yaffe also submitted an emotional appeal to the mayor in April 1951. "I hereby express my amazement that in the festivities to unveil the monument to the founders of Tel Aviv, the name of my uncle, Rabbi Bezalel Yaffe of blessed memory, was not mentioned. He was a member of the first Tel Aviv council and the first president of the Jaffa-Tel Aviv community."

 Baruch Golinksy of 44 Rashi Street wrote on April 1, 1951, "with regard to the unveiling of the monument to the establishment of Tel Aviv and to those who participated in this, I would like to inform you that I too took part in leveling the sand dunes and mountains as a simple laborer... I think that I too deserve to be on the list of founders."

 The KKL-JNF too sent a letter of complaint in March 1951 because its officials had not been invited to the unveiling ceremony.

 The storm did not die down even after the city announced that the list of 66 was final and was based on the following documents: a list of the members of Ahuzat Bayit; a list of those who signed the Jaffa land registry in 1909 to purchase the land for Ahuzat Bayit; the lists of those who signed the contracts to obtain building loans; and those who had begun to build their homes by the end of 1909.

 After the city's announcement, Priver was able to finish his work. Priver (1902-1979) was born in Poland and was awarded the Dizengoff prize for art three times. His prominent works include the relief "The Creation of Israel" at the Bank of Israel and the reliefs in the Petah Tikva fallen soldiers. He donated a large group of sculptures to the memorial for fallen soldiers in Kfar Saba in memory of his son Yoel, who died in the War of Independence at the age of 17.

 Priver's work consisted of two parts on opposite sides of the monument. On the western side, the founders' names were engraved in alphabetical order. On the western side, facing the pool and fountain built there, Priver prepared a copper relief with three rows that depicted the first three stages of Tel Aviv's development. The first stage was conquering the sand dunes through hard manual labor. This section shows wild animals, but the main image is that of the dunes that were leveled for the establishment of Ahuzat Bayit. The main street was created along the length of a small wadi in the sand dunes.

 The second stage was the Ahuzat Bayit period and the first houses: low buildings lining Herzl Street, with the Gymnasia Herzliya and the home of the city's founder, Akiva Arieh Weiss, at the edge. This section also depicts Dizengoff's home before it was renovated.

 The third and highest row shows Tel Aviv of the time, including a selection of international style and eclectic style buildings. They include the Mugrabi cinema, Zina Dizengoff Square. Habima Theater, and the Ohel Mo'ed synagogue. In the background, skyscrapers could be seen - their vision for the city's future.

 Under the relief is the verse, "I will build you firmly again, O Maiden Israel!" (Jeremiah 31:4), which also appears on the municipal symbol. On the southern side of the monument, a copper copy of the municipal symbol was posted.

 The date of the monument's dedication ceremony was the subject of more than a little controversy. There were those who felt it should be on the anniversary of the lottery, the day Tel Aviv was officially established. Others thought that it should be on the anniversary of the cornerstone laying of sculptures to the memorial for fallen soldiers in Kfar Saba in memory of his son Yoel, who died in the War of Independence at the age of 17.

 Priver's work consisted of two parts on opposite sides of the monument. On the western side, the founders' names were engraved in alphabetical order. On the western side, facing the pool and fountain built there, Priver prepared a copper relief with three rows that depicted the first three stages of Tel Aviv's development. The first stage was conquering the sand dunes through hard manual labor. This section shows wild animals, but the main image is that of the dunes that were leveled for the establishment of Ahuzat Bayit. The main street was created along the length of a small wadi in the sand dunes.

 The second stage was the Ahuzat Bayit period and the first houses: low buildings lining Herzl Street, with the Gymnasia Herzliya and the home of the city's founder, Akiva Arieh Weiss, at the edge. This section also depicts Dizengoff's home before it was renovated.

 The third and highest row shows Tel Aviv of the time, including a selection of international style and eclectic style buildings. They include the Mugrabi cinema, Zina Dizengoff Square. Habima Theater, and the Ohel Mo'ed synagogue. In the background, skyscrapers could be seen - their vision for the city's future.

 Under the relief is the verse, "I will build you firmly again, O Maiden Israel!" (Jeremiah 31:4), which also appears on the municipal symbol. On the southern side of the monument, a copper copy of the municipal symbol was posted.

 The date of the monument's dedication ceremony was the subject of more than a little controversy. There were those who felt it should be on the anniversary of the lottery, the day Tel Aviv was officially established. Others thought that it should be on the anniversary of the cornerstone laying of the Gymnasia Herzliya or of the dedication of the first houses in the neighborhood in 1910. Smilansky, the only member of the first Ahuzat Bayit council still living, was called upon for assistance in this as well and he suggested several dates. In April 1949, it was recommended to hold the ceremony on June 7, the day which the cornerstone was laid for the first house built in Ahuzat Bayit (on Yehuda Halevy Street). However, in the end, mainly due to Rokach's strong feelings on the issue, the ceremony was held on Dizengoff's ninetieth birthday.

 To make the ceremony as official as possible, Rokach made an effort to locate all of the founders who were still alive and the descendants of the others. He even turned to the Voice of Israel radio for help. In the end, 14 couples and 15 widows and widowers from the group that founded Tel Aviv were invited to and attended the ceremony along with their families.

 Rokach. of course, gave the opening remarks. "Not far from the place where we are now standing, the founders of Tel Aviv gathered 42 years ago to lay the cornerstone to the community that would grow into a city in Israel," he said. "This monument... will serve as a reminder for generations to all those who pass it of the cradle of our wonderful city... Our precious children will look at the relief in its center and understand how a small community founded by 66 people grew to be a city of nearly 400,000 in the short time of a single generation - a city that symbolizes more than any other place in Israel the ingathering of the exiles, the melting pot of a nation revived."

 He was joined at the podium by the foreign minister at the time, Moshe Sharett, who was in the first class to graduate from Gymnasia Herzliya and whose family's home was nearby (and today is part of the Haganah Museum), and by Smilansky.

 For some reason, a sign indicating founder's square was not put up at the time, but this oversight was corrected on May 2, 2005. by Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai.

 Even today, as Huldai presides over Tel Aviv's centennial celebrations, there still are more than a few families who claim that an injustice has been done to their ancestors, who should be added to the list of the city's founders. ■

Ilan Shchori is a writer, researcher, lecturer, and tour guide who specializes in Tel Aviv of the 1920s and 1930s and operates a website on the city's history - www.mytelaviv.co.il